n-Butyronitrile has a sharp suffocating odor. Forms cyanide in the body. Butyronitrile [109-74-0], propyl cyanide, butanenitrile, CH3(CH2)2CN, is a colorless liquid slightly miscible with water, miscible with ethanol and diethyl ether. The physical properties are listed in Table 1. Butyronitrile is usually obtained by the catalytic gase-phase reaction of butanol or butyraldehyde with ammonia. Its major use is the manufacture of the poultry drug amprolium.
Basic material in industrial, chemical, and
pharmaceutical intermediates and products; poul-
try medicines.
Butyronitrile serves as an intermediate in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. It is also involved in the preparation of n-butylamine, butanamide and butyric acid. It acts as a precursor to the poultry drug amprolium. Further, it reacts with phosphorochloridic acid diethyl ester to prepare (1-cyano-propyl)-phosphonic acid diethyl ester. It is also employed to study the effect of stereochemical factors on intervalence charge transfer. In addition to this, it is used in electrolyte composition in dye-sensitized solar cells.
Butyronitrile is used as a chemical intermediate.
ChEBI: A nitrile that is hydrogen cyanide in which the hydrogen has been replaced by a propyl group.
n-Butyronitrile is prepared from 1-butanol by controlled cyanation with NH3 at
300°C in the presence of Ni-Al203 or zinc phosphide catalysts.
A clear colorless liquid. Flash point 76°F. Less dense than water. Vapors heavier than air. Produces toxic oxides of nitrogen during combustion. Used in the manufacture of other chemicals.
Highly flammable. Slightly soluble in water.
BUTYRONITRILE can react vigorously with oxidizing reagents, when heated to decomposition, BUTYRONITRILE emits highly toxic fumes of cyanides and oxides of nitrogen [Sax, 9th ed., 1996, p. 609]. Nitriles may polymerize in the presence of metals and some metal compounds. They are incompatible with acids; mixing nitriles with strong oxidizing acids can lead to extremely violent reactions. Nitriles are generally incompatible with other oxidizing agents such as peroxides and epoxides. The combination of bases and nitriles can produce hydrogen cyanide. Nitriles are hydrolyzed in both aqueous acid and base to give carboxylic acids (or salts of carboxylic acids). These reactions generate heat. Peroxides convert nitriles to amides. Nitriles can react vigorously with reducing agents. Acetonitrile and propionitrile are soluble in water, but nitriles higher than propionitrile have low aqueous solubility. They are also insoluble in aqueous acids.
Flammable, dangerous fire risk.
n-Butyronitrile is considered a highly hazardous material and full precautions
should be used to prevent skin contact or inhalation of the vapor. Inhaled n-butyronitrile is about 2.4 times as toxic as acetonitrile. In order to protect
workers, the recommended TWA limit is obtained by dividing that for acetonitrile
by the factor 2.4. NIOSH has therefore recommended that employee exposure
should not exceed 8 ppm (v/v) (22 mg/m3) compound as a TLV-TWA.
Dizziness, rapid respirations, headache, drowsiness, drop in blood pressure and pulse, delayed symptoms. May cause cyanosis (blue-grey coloring of skin and lips due to lack of oxygen)
Butyronitrile showed moderate to high toxicity on test animals. It is an acute toxicant by all routes: inhalation, ingestion, and absorption through skin. The target organs are the liver, kidney, central nervous system, lungs, and sense organs, as well as the peripheral nerve. Its toxicity is on the same order as that of propionitrile; its inhalation toxicity is slightly lower than that of propionitrile, and its oral toxicity is slightly greater than that of propionitrile.
Inhalation can cause nausea, respiratory distress, and damage to liver. Willhite (1981) reported a LC50 value of 249 ppm in mice from 1 hour exposure to its vapor. It produced ataxia, dyspnea, and corneal damage in test animals when given intraperitoneally. The toxic symptoms from subcutaneous applications are tremor, dyspnea, respiratory depression, and spastic paralysis. It is toxic only at low levels by skin absorption.
LD50 value, oral (mice): 27.7 mg/kg
There is no report on its teratogenicity. The reproductive effect of this compound is expected to be similar to that of propionitrile.
Special Hazards of Combustion Products: Toxic cyanide fumes
Flammability and Explosibility
Highly flammable
n-Butyronitrile is used as an industrial solvent, an intermediate in the chemical industry and in poultry medicines.
A poison by ingestion,
skin contact, intraperitoneal, and
subcutaneous routes. Moderately toxic by
inhalation. Experimental reproductive data.
A skin irritant. Dangerous fire hazard when
exposed to heat, flame, or oxidizers. To
fight fire, use alcohol foam. When heated to
decomposition it emits toxic fumes of NOx
and CN-.
Treat it with conc HCl until the smell of the isonitrile had gone, then dry with K2CO3 and fractionally distil [Turner J Chem Soc 1681 1956]. Alternatively it is twice heated at 75o and stirred for several hours with a mixture of 7.7g Na2CO3 and 11.5g KMnO4 per L of butyronitrile. The mixture is cooled, then distilled. The middle fraction is dried over activated alumina. [Schoeller & Wiemann J Am Chem Soc 108 22 1986, Beilstein 2 IV 806.]
Burning in a chemical incinerator equipped with an afterburner and scrubber is the most effective way to destroy the compound. Oxidation with ethanolic–KOH can convert butyronitrile to nonhazardous cyanate.
